Valkyries rookie Carla Leite gets love from The Athletic
In Sabreena Merchant's latest WNBA Power Rankings, she gave Golden State Valkyries rookie Carla Leite some nice print.
She has a section in her column to celebrate rookies called Rookie of the Week. After Sonia Citron was the Rookie of the Week for week one, Carla Leite received the honors for week two.
From Merchant:
She’s incredibly hard to keep out of the paint and too versatile to defend once she gets there. Leite is comfortable with the little runner or putting her head down to get all the way to the rim, especially in transition. She always has her head up for kickouts to the 3-point line or dump-offs to a rolling big. As a WNBA rookie, she’s also held up on tough defensive assignments, even giving Plum real difficulty in Golden State’s win in Los Angeles.
Week three hasn't been great for Leite. Per ESPN's women's fantasy basketball game log, Leite only played 26 minutes in two games this week against a long and deep New York Liberty team.
She also took a knee to the chest while taking a charge in the second game against the Liberty, which may have played a part in her only playing eight minutes on May 29.
Exemple type de cette très bonne défense des Valks.
— Grégoire MBV (@gregoirembv) May 30, 2025
Repli organisé et coordonné, on se parle, et ensuite :
- on coulisse
- on aide au bon moment
- on laisse de l'espace quand y'a pas de danger
- bons close-outs
- bons stunts
Et Carla Leite qui donne son âme ahah https://t.co/iSWgNWjzls pic.twitter.com/Msc7IKIbAK
Julive Vanloo had one of her best performances and played a lot of minutes down the stretch in a game in which the Valkyries gave the Liberty all they could handle; albeit a game also without Jonquel Jones. With Stephanie Talbot and Cecilia Zandalasini now in the rotation, head coach Natalie Nakase will be able to play the hot hand more which could mean less minutes for Leite.
I'm definitely going to be watching the rotation closely this Sunday against the Minnesota Lynx as on Thursday, Nakase played nine players at least eight minutes and that was without playing Tiffany Hayes who was back from injury and Kate Martin.
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